Batter&#39;s chest protector



Dec. 29, 1964 o. E. GUSTAFSON BATTERS CHEST PROTECTOR Filed June 10,1963 Dam/140 E. GUSTAFJG/V B) gW+ 47'7'0R/VEY5 United States Patent3,162,861 BATTERS (IHEST PRGTECTOR Donald E. Gustatson, 43166 NielsonCourt Mission, San Jose Eistrict, Fremont, Calif. Fiied lune it), 1963,Ser. No. 286,722 1 Claim. (Q2. ?.2-)

This invention relates generally to protectors for shielding a personsbody from external blows, and more particularly to a protector for useby a baseball player when batting.

With the increase of participation by youngsters in little league andother baseball activities, much attention has been focused onoccurrences of severe injury to the players. While head injuries are nowrelatively rare as a result of various types of protective headgear, ithas become evident that a ball striking the unprotected chest region ofthe batter can cause serious and sometimes fatal injury to the heart. Itis possible that youngsters not fully matured are more susceptible tothis type of injury, and in any event are usually less able to movequickly to escape being struck by a wild pitch.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a novelprotector for use by a baseball player while batting and which presentsa minimal restriction to the free movement of the players body and mms.

Another object of my invention is to provide a batters protector whichis extremely lightwei ht, yet which is capable of receiving severelocalized impact and safely distributing the shock over a relativelylarge body area.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. Itis to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a protector embodying thepresent invention shown mounted in position on a persons body.

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation view of the protector shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the protector shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional side view taken along the plane of line 44in FIGURE 2.

Describing now an embodiment of my invention, there is depicted inFIGURE 1 a protector 11 mounted in operable position on the wearer. Asshown, the protector is of generally concave-convex cross-sectionalform, and has a central portion 12 adapted to overlie the wearers chestand diaphragm regions. A pair of integral side portions 13 and 14 extendgenerally rearwardly from the central portion 12, and are adapted tooverlie the wearers sidm below the armpits.

An important feature in the construction of the protector 11 relates tothe inclusion of an extremely lightweight form retaining outer sheet ofmaterial 16. The sheet 16 may be made of a suitable plastic, and whilenominal resiliency or deformability may exist, the sheet 16 should havea generally rigid characteristic. When a ball strikes the sheet 16,causing a sharp licalized impact, the rigidness of the sheet eifectuatesa general distribution of the force over a large area of the body,

3,ld2,8fil Fatented ec. 29, 1964 thereby safely cushioning the blow. Toincrease the wearers comfort, and to increase the impact cushioningeffect, it is preferable that an inner layer 37 of flexible resilientmaterial, such as foam rubber, be secured to the inner surface of theouter sheet in, and generally conformed to its shape.

As shown in the drawings, the lower edge 18 of the protector ii isgenerally coplanar, and is adapted for disposition below the diaphragmregion of the wearer, which is located immediately below the frontportion of the rib cage. The upper edge 15? of the central portion is ofgenerallyarcuate shape, and inclines downwardly towards the sideportions 13 and 14, whereby the latter are of lesser height than thecentral portion.

Strap means are provided to secure the sheet 26 in position on thewearer, and preferably include a pair of straws 2i and 22 respectivelysecured to the side portions 13 and lid. The straps can then bepositioned around the wearers back and buckled or therwise securedtogether, thus maintaining the protector in position.

Because of the instant protectors light weight, upper edge contour, andgenerally convex shape, it is able to aiford effective cushioning ofsharp localized blows, while enabling substantially uninhibited movementof the wearers arms and body. Consequently, it has been found to be apractical and effective means for virtually eliminating the possibilityof heart fatalities arising from blows to the wearers general chestregion.

What is claimed is:

A protector of the character described comprising an outer sheet ofshock distributing and form retaining material of generally rigidcharacteristics having a generally concave-convex cross-section, saidsheet including a central portion adapted to overlie the chest anddiaphragm regions of the wearer, said central portion having an arcuateupper edge with a maximum height at the central portion thereof, a pairof side portions formed integrally with and extending rearwardly fromopposite sides of said central portion and terminating in rear edgeportions of substantial height, each of said side portions having anupper edge merging with the upper edge of said central portion and beingof substantially lesser height than said central portion, said sideportions adapted to overlie the side rib cage regions of the wearerbelow the armpits, said portions having a common lower edge adapted tobe positioned above the waist of the wearer, a shock absorbing sheet offlexible resilient foam material secured to the inner surface of saidouter sheet and substantially coextensive therewith, and strap meanssecured to said protector for retaining the same in position on thewearer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 418,396 12/89Buck 2--2.5 925,851 6/09 Sullivan 2-2 2,468,841 5/49 Siegel 22 2,733,443 2/56 Holder 222 2,75 6,429 7/56 Malachowski 22 FOREIGN PATENTS108,801 8/17 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT V. SLOAN, Examiner.

